Origins sent out yet ANOTHER message about me, and my response

Gama sent out this email to all the exhibitors at Origins. Basically, they screwed up, but Origins wants you to know that they’re the real victims here and Larry Correia and his fans are the real bad guys. Here it is in its entirety. My specific comments will follow:

Good afternoon Exhibitors,

We are a few weeks away from Origins and the anticipation is building!

Things are looking great for this year’s show. The Exhibit Hall is officially sold out and badges are currently trending 15% above pre-registration numbers from 2017.

We have taken a brief hiatus from social media but are fully prepared to continue promoting the show and its exhibitors starting this week. Before we begin communicating through social, there are a few things we wanted to bring to your attention.

Some individuals have rallied online with plans to harass companies exhibiting at the show—this is in response to the disinviting of Larry Correia as a guest at Origins.

To provide you with some background: our original decision to invite Larry as a guest at Origins was simple—he’s a successful author, has been a guest at other conventions in previous years, and any one that knows him knows that he is big into gaming.

Unfortunately, we were not aware of Mr. Correia’s online presence and following. Upon further research we found an abundance of confrontational discourse and polarizing behavior online.

We have nothing against Larry as a person or as a professional, but we have seen the drama that follows him, and we do not want that at Origins.

As an exhibitor at Origins, we wanted you to be aware of the general MO of the group we are explaining:

Company pages are inundated with comments and negative rankings
Employers and publishers are contacted
Messages with keywords regarding to the show are targeted

Time has passed, and things have calmed down, but we should all still be aware of these potential behaviors. If you receive any threats or libel regarding you or your company, please send them to John Ward.

Thank you for your support. Good luck with the final preparations for the show!

Wow… Now I’m really starting to get annoyed at just how disingenuous this bunch is.

Some individuals have rallied online with plans to harass companies exhibiting at the show

My only comments during this entire debacle concerning the vendors was that they should be left alone. The vendors are just small businessmen trying to have a good sales weekend, and they have nothing to do with the incompetence of John Ward. I’ve specifically gone out of my way to say that to my fans on multiple occasions.

The only vendors I’ve seen animosity directed at were the ones who specifically went out of their way to virtue signal on Twitter about how booting me for having the wrong opinions was So Brave. And that’s a short and very specific list who did that usual social media thing where they decided to throw punches, and then cry about getting punched back afterwards.

But hey, toss that out there. The important thing is that everyone knows Origins is the real victim here.

To provide you with some background: our original decision to invite Larry as a guest at Origins was simple—he’s a successful author, has been a guest at other conventions in previous years,

Correction, I’ve been a guest at dozens of other conventions and events over the last decade (as many as 15 in a year) and I’ve not had an issue at a single one of them. I’ve been on a few hundred panels, and as far as I’m aware of I’ve never had any complaints made to a ConCom by anyone who was actually at any of these events

and any one that knows him knows that he is big into gaming.

Duh.

Unfortunately, we were not aware of Mr. Correia’s online presence

By online presence, they mean that I have a history of interrupting social justice lynch mobs while they’re slandering people and trying to ruin careers. How rude!

and following.

Meaning I have a lot of fans who take it personal when they’re told that a guy they’re fond of, who they read all his stuff, and worst of all, agree with on a lot of his opinions… is actually a sexist, racist, homophobic, hatemonger. Because if they like such a person, what does it say about them?

So they got ticked off. Go figure. Don’t they know that only people on the left are allowed to share an opinion in public?

Upon further research

That is an utter and complete lie. Unless by “research” they mean that some angry people with an axe to grind showed up in their announcement thread to make up a bunch of outlandish nonsense, and John Ward immediately panicked and caved to their demands.

we found an abundance of confrontational discourse

Confrontational, meaning that I’m one of a relative handful of professional traditionally published authors who is openly something other than liberal/socialist in an industry which is overwhelmingly left wing, who will disagree in public with the agreed upon groupthink narrative about any given topic. I guess Origins thinks it is okay to be a conservative or a libertarian, provided that you sit quietly and never ever disagree with your betters.

and polarizing behavior online.

Which is kind of funny, since there is a long list of super outspoken left wing authors and game designers who could be described as “polarizing”, but for some odd reason those don’t count.

Seriously, when I’m having all this “confrontational discourse” I ain’t talking to myself. I’m usually arguing with a left wing author, pundit, journalist, or publishing industry nut hugger. You going to ban all those too? Or just the guy you’ve decided is on the wrong side of history (along with half of America)?

We have nothing against Larry as a person or as a professional,

Which is why you lent credence to a bunch of vile slander from an online outrage mob (who weren’t even going to attend anyway), and why you continue to malign both me and my fans. Or why John Ward never specified what my “beliefs” were that made me inappropriate for a “family friendly” event.

but we have seen the drama that follows him, and we do not want that at Origins.

Which is why John Ward managed to handle revoking my invitation in the most ham fisted, drama inducing manner, humanly possible.

As an exhibitor at Origins, we wanted you to be aware of the general MO of the group we are explaining:

I like that. “MO of the group”… As in Ward panicked, caved into a social justice witch hunt within minutes, publically screwed the pooch, and now they need to shift blame to the people who felt insulted by his inept, unprofessional handling of the matter.

Company pages are inundated with comments and negative rankings

Meaning a bunch of pissed off people left negative reviews on Origins page that day.

As far as other company pages getting lots of comments and negative rankings, I’ve got no idea what he’s going on about. But if someone at a company goes specifically political on their social media (Green Ronin, the one guy from Fate, Mike what’s his face at D&D) I don’t know why it should come as a shock that they get comments of an opposing political response.

Oh yeah! That’s right! “Polarizing” only works in one direction. You guys can say whatever you want with impunity and half the country just has to suck it up. I forgot. My bad.

Employers and publishers are contacted

Yep. That’s something people do to the sponsors of things which piss them off.

That one is kind of funny though, since Ward’s last email to the vendors he straight up lied to them and said he’d only gotten a handful of emails. Oops. Your damage control guys should really keep their stories straight.

Messages with keywords regarding to the show are targeted

I don’t even know what the hell he’s talking about there.

Time has passed, and things have calmed down

Which is why they decided to send this email to everyone to stir it back up.

Heh… By me making this public and defending myself, there I go being all “polarizing” and “confrontational” again.

but we should all still be aware of these potential behaviors

Including the imaginary ones he made up.

If you receive any threats or libel regarding you or your company, please send them to John Ward.

Who I am certain will bungle it in the most inept way humanly possible.

Look, Vendors, you guys are the ones getting screwed here. I’m just going to stay home and paint minis that weekend.

John Ward goofed. The fiancé of a billionaire was butt hurt over something I wrote four years ago, made up a bunch of nonsense about how my presence at an event she wasn’t even going to attend made her feel “unsafe”, and Ward instantly caved to political pressure like a little bitch. The loudest, most politically biased (dare I say polarizing?) people in your industry threw a party about it on Twitter about how half your customers are stupid for having the wrong politics, and now they’re whining because those people gave them negative reviews.

Hence, this press release so they can shift the blame back over to the guy they screwed over who just wanted to go to a game con.

I hope you vendors have a good show. I hope you sell a ton of stuff and make a pile of money. But man, if I were you, I’d really want these goons replaced with some actual businessmen who will put your continued success over their petty partisan politics.

I’m not the one who started this. I was going to do some panels, teach a couple writing workshops (for free), play some games, buy some minis (seriously, I spent $1,000 before lunch the first day of GenCon last time), interact with fans, and then go see the manatees at the Columbus zoo. I didn’t think it would be that different from the multitude of other cons I’ve attended without incident over the years.

Drama “follows me” because clowns like Ward give into the demands of the perpetually offended who scream the loudest. A few days after this, spurred on by their success, the social justice crowd was already trying to get me kicked out of a different con (but unlike Ward, that ConCom had a spine) and they told the complainer to shove it..

So ask yourself if GAMA is going to have your back when someone at your company inevitably says something that crosses some perpetually offended person’s invisible line and a political outrage mob forms. We’ve already seen that if you’ve got the correct politics you’ll be fine, but as for the rest of you wrongthinkers? Your future is in John Ward’s hands.

I mean, this is the same political camp that thinks using a weapon in self-defense should be a crime, so it’s not surprising that they would also think defending your conservative/libertarian viewpoints against slander is hate speech.

On a somewhat related note, my newest auto-generated ship commander in World of Warships is named John Ward, and I’m thinking of dismissing him.

Unfortunately there’s no such thing as a Columbus-class or Ohio-class ship to put him in charge of, but I could work with the Baltimore-class cruiser (of which one of their real-world examples was called USS Columbus) OR the Montana-class battleship (of which one was named the USS Ohio, though it was never actually built). I haven’t unlocked either of those ships yet though so I’ll have to get to work on it.

Wow, I’m not up on the politics given this Con but I know that if an author I wanted to see the most was all the sudden not going to be there I would really question as to why and would definitely not want to go myself. I think you’re right that all the people who who work hard to earn what they can at a con would definitely be the ones who would lose the most.

It’s in his update post. He got the check for the travel costs, but they shorted him the $300 he spent on an upgrade to economy comfort (which they weren’t contractually required to give him, but it would have been the right thing to do so that’s still a jerk move).

i dearly wish you’d publish his email so we congoers could contact him directly. I’ve been going to Origins since I think their first year, the year Tom Clancy was a guest of honor (who i got to meet at some dudes table in the vendors room. he’d set up the Battle of Waterloo with a fantasy scenario of Alexander the Great’s Greek army against Napoleon’s Armee du Nord. Both Clancy and I laughed at him.) I even came in 2nd place in their Quake 2 tournament! I’ve attended almost every year since.

Never again. I cannot in good conscience support an organization that is hostile towards the Constitution, specifically the First Amendment. What John Ward has done is classic fascism. A term overused I agree, but also one that fits this scenario.

Speaking of Cons, you’re still on for Gencon right? I’m looking forward to rolling some dice with you. I promise not to get butt hurt by anything you say……..okay your disdain for HK’s tweak me some.(joking) Do you know if they have a night time and place for the MHI game?

Man from the mountain, you might want to recon this year’s GenCon.
They decided to GoH the Anita Sarkeesian of the Gamergate “fame” for… diversity or something.
The panels seem to be 50% Go Woke! this time around

Ummm, wow. I had no idea that was going on. By that metric, I have a complaint about almost every single person I’ve ever met in Europe. I *hate* being touched. But I’m also an adult and have enough awareness to know that some people are touchy people. Not in a creepy way, that’s just how they connect with others. I’m not that way, but I can deal with it. If I’m uncomfortable, I’ll address it with the person making me uncomfortable. I’ve done it once before when a guy was clearly trying to feel me up (he was not a European).

As for the other thing, I have no idea what Bryan said, but at this point in time I’m going to guess that some bored SJW was looking to be offended in a public way and jumped on any statement that didn’t immediately coddle a bunch of grown-ass adults who couldn’t fucking address their own damn problems.

Ah, social justice zealots screaming about blowback when they find out that the ‘wrong side of America’ is the one that spends money. “NO NO, COME BACK, EVEN IF WE THINK YOU ARE A SHITTY RIGHT WING MOB, THE COLOR OF YOUR MONEY IS BEAUTIFUL TO US!” is a glorious thing to see.

Is this getting to lawyering up stage? Because it looks like the double-down on the slander and defamation is getting escalated.

There may be arguments I like less than the ridiculous “some individual vaguely associated with Person X is an asshole, therefore X is an asshole” trope this Origins statement reeks of, but there sure aren’t many of them.

This e-mail from GAMA sure seems to meet the definition of libel to me. That they specifically mentioned Larry in it, rather than an unnamed former GoH, is deliberately damaging publicity to the Correia brand. Well, damaging to those who don’t know anything about Larry that is.

They are in the center and the others are “polarizing”.
What two poles? There is only one pole, the “polarizing” one, plus they, the “neutrals”. They should get a Nobel Prize for their monopole discovery.

Per Larry’s request, I’m not boycotting any of the vendors at this year’s event (with the exception of those who actively cheered Ward on — those guys are already dead to me).

As Larry and others have noted, many of the vendors are small businesspeople who might not be able to reschedule/pull out this late in the game without taking a financial hit.

If any of those same vendors are there next year, though, they won’t get another pass from me.

If you are a vendor, I would strongly recommend that you evaluate whether butthurt screeching communists are actually the more valuable of the two markets.

Decision time, guys. You have to choose. Show up at Origins next year and you’ll never see another dime from me.

Think I’m bluffing? I haven’t bought a Tor book since 2012, even though they still publish a few authors that I like.

Try me.

Firing Ward, issuing a formal written apology to Larry (along with his three hundred bucks), and instituting a lifetime ban on Twix (or whatever her name is) and her finance*/future ex-husband (or whatever he is), would perhaps mitigate the damage to some degree, though I strongly doubt that the convention’s reputation will ever recover from this completely.

“Hey guys, just wanted to bring you up to speed…- So, we attacked a guy’s character with absolutely no evidence whatsoever and as a result people that actually know him, including a number (read: larger than our crowd pull) of his fans, took exception.

Come out to Enfilade! in Olympia, WA — not as a GoH, but as Just Another Wargamer. Given the fact I was able to to wear my “TRIGGER WARNING” shirt on the con floor and have absolutely *no one* care, I doubt they’ll try anything.

Ah, yes, the Evil Mr. Correia digs out his sack of doubloons, sticks one in the appropriate slot, and spins up his mighty fisking machine, driving another idiot deeper into said idiot’s own self-made pile of dung. It’s almost as much fun as reading his latest “Monsters” book… and it’s free, heh, heh.

At the risk sounding like a nut job. I have came to the conclusion our society evolved in to allowing , what i call Perceived Oppressed ( no disrespect to the truly oppressed in this world) to be the biggest oppressor’s .

I ran into this being a lurker on a Goodread’s syfy club forum. A person started a thread , Would you still read/buy authors you found out did bad things.

After reading two pages of comments I could not stop myself and posted my opinion stating with their line of thinking our U.S. constitution should be Abolished . Well that only garnered a Response from one poster with unsupported outlandish dribble.
I did respond back asking for facts to support what was being said not allowing she said he said as facts.

The next day I came back to the forum to see response’s to my two comments. To find I have been removed from the group.

It’s not a real gaming session until you’ve lectured every last one of your straight, white, male gaming friends about their bigotry, privilege, misogyny, and racism before the game starts. Bonus points if you make them give up everything their character gains in any given situation to the whoever has the biggest claim to victimhood in the group.

Yup, seriously. GenCon must not have read the “no plarizing guests, seriously you guys” script. Or they read the one for it’s okay to do it to the right, because we don’t go all torchmobby, making passive aggressive “I feel unsafe, you must disinvite!” comments.

The lack of imagination is what gets me. We’re geeks, right? Gamers, readers, mini painters. Fans. You’d think the ones on the left with similar sort of bent would try something other than the same tired old “racist sexist, evil hatey-hate” crap.

They seem to be unaware that actual gamers hate her guts. Is the plan, basically, to try to bleed as much money as possible, then step 2 ____?_____, step 3 PROFIT!!!

I’m honestly starting to wonder if somebody’s pulled an oversell scam on the convention backers, as in The Producers. Inviting Sarkesian to a gamers convention is rather like inviting Farrakhan to a Jewish temple.

Has Anita actually, like, done anything in years? Beyond make excuses as to why those “Educational Videos” people sent her a -lot- of money for never actually materialized beyond a couple of half-hearted “ashcan copy” attempts?

I don’t know if it’s a regional thing (I live in Las Vegas) but the overwhelming majority of table top gamers I know are conservative. (Something about miniature war gaming seems to appeal to veterans) The few that aren’t are only slightly left of center and even the most leftist of them don’t approve of SJW tactics. Maybe the industry should do a demographic survey.

Huh. Really feels like a case of “We made a really bad decision, but we’d really like it if you blamed someone else for this decision instead of us.” Getting bad reviews and comments? Yes, that’s generally what happens when you do something customers don’t like. This is like the CEO of Coke getting up at an investor conference and saying “Look, New Coke was a disaster, but the problem wasn’t with New Coke, or with us. It was with those people who talked about how they didn’t like New Coke!”

Make bad business decisions, make unhappy customers, reap the reward. You don’t get to claim that someone else is responsible somehow for your bad business decisions.

Unless, of course, you live in a la la land where action and reaction are divorced from one another … which Ward certainly sounds like he believes he lives in.

Okay, so here’s an alternate theory on why Origins would proclaim their commitment to avoiding a brouhaha, while doing everything to keep that brouhaha alive:

They still have an all male GOH line up. The initial complaints even went on about that first, with Larry as an almost after thought. What if the harpies are given time to remember that the lack of diversity was their first concern? Origins might want to keep everyone focused on how they valiantly slayed Straw Larry for a very good reason.

The origins event was close enough that it was just doable as a day-trip which would have been a great opportunity to see Larry again. I saw the event announcement. I looked into where it was. Saw that and started thinking about the possibility of making that day trip and…Larry uninvited.

Yeah, that idea ended right there. I wouldn’t have had a lot of money to spend but I would have had some. But I’m not enough of a gamer to make it worth the trip on its own. Larry’s presence could have made it so. But…

This is a letter, on a potentially legal matter, from a professional, for-profit association? It reads like it was written by a Nigerian email scammer.

If I was doing business with GAMA, after reading that bit of illiteracy my hair would be standing straight up.

Frankly Larry I’d say you are much better off having nothing to do with these people. They seem -stupid- to me. I’m talking “five-martini-lunch and cheating on the trophy wife with the secretary” kind of stupid.

Caught,/saw? you years ago at the B&N in not Cleveland Enjoyed your talk very much. I really enjoy what you write. I reread it. Taking on these guys in your unique style is worth staying up for. I don’t get to internet until after 2200.

Yeah, because Larry Correia is totally known for that. I mean, the last two times he’s been at DragonCon, there’s been unrest, riots, looting, dead rising from the grave, dogs and cats living together…

Oh wait, NONE of that happened. Mr. Correia was his usual chill, cheerful self and was more than happy to chat with fans (myself included). When the MHI/Savage Worlds Kickstarter drops, I wonder if he’d be willing to play it down in the gaming rooms? 🙂

I have heard from ‘Mad Mike’ (Michael Z. Williamson) that at least one convention has told him that this kind of horsepuckey will not fly with them; an attendee who whines about a guest will be refunded their fee and politely told ‘see you next year’.

MZW has not identified the convention, but I wonder if it’s DragonCon. THAT would probably motivate me to get an Eternal membership, to hell with the costs 🙂

I suspect the signalling is a substitute for a personally known lack of actual virtue- ala the creepy woman stalker who post a whole lot of soc justice feminist screeds to mask/make up for the actual fact that he’s a woman hating misogynist.

Unfortunately I can’t boycott Origins because they weren’t I con I normally attend anyway. I am going to bypass Gen Con this year because they decided to guest Anita Sarkeesian, one of the worst “gamer gate” SJWs out there. They are sending a clear signal to spend my money elsewhere, like on more of Larry’s books.

Perfect example of selective quoting to make it sound like someone is sexist! Here’s the full sentence: “The fiancé of a billionaire was butt hurt over something I wrote four years ago, made up a bunch of nonsense about how my presence at an event she wasn’t even going to attend made her feel ‘unsafe’, and Ward instantly caved to political pressure like a little bitch. ”

Notice how he never called the woman a single sexist slur. Now if you want to have a civil discussion about whether it is appropriate to use the word “bitch” disparagingly towards men, we can do that, but first let’s not misrepresent someone’s words to argue about something they did not say.

Secondly, even if the above quote were sufficient for a Public Opinion Conviction of Gross Sexism, what on earth does that have to do with white supremacists, Nazis, and trailer parks?

Thirdly, if you would bother to read Larry Correia’s books, you would find that the very first book in his most popular series (which, by the way, stars a mixed-race protagonist) explicitly states that the heroes despise the KKK. But reading must be too much work.

Hmm, nice selective editing there you deceitful idiot. Go crawl back under the rock, oh sorry the “safe space”, you emerged from.

“The fiancé of a billionaire was butt hurt over something I wrote four years ago, made up a bunch of nonsense about how my presence at an event she wasn’t even going to attend made her feel ‘unsafe’, and Ward instantly caved to political pressure like a little bitch.”

The fiance of a billionaire (true) was butt hurt (obvious truth) over something I wrote four years ago (accurate, link provided. And she specifically talked about how I’d “attacked” and “harmed” her loved ones) made up a bunch of nonsense (there is no evidence for any of the allegations against me) she said my presence made people “unsafe” (true), and Ward caved (if not instantly, within a couple of hours of the billionaire’s fiance starting her tantrum).

Objection your Honor! Facts not in evidence! At no point in time did the fiancé of a billionaire ever claim her actual butt hurt. And if pressed we are prepared to present a letter from her proctologist saying her butt is just fine and does not hurt at all, thus proving that Larry is racist. Or Fascist. Or anti-egalitarian. Hang on a second your Honor, I need to consult the latest SJW talking point to figure out what he’s guilty of now.

Bro, I missed your tour last year because I was on tour in the Stan but, I hope to catch you at a Con or signing in the near future. Every one of your books has been a page turner and I have tons of respect for the time and creativity you put into your work. You sir, have helped me through some very stressful times by providing me with a very enjoyable atmosphere of relatable character and characters.

To read about this thing with this guy that looks like he gets punched in the face by his gerbil while wearing his orifice appropriate gimp suit, is really disheartening. Are these the type of people we spend so much time away from our families for? Some of us don’t get to come back.

The hardest thing for me to adjust to when coming home, is how much things change. You step off that plane and realize how much your kids have grown without you, how disheveled your spouse really is from handling your part of the household while you were gone. There are things that don’t change, I mean the cats still hate you, your family still loves you and the lawn still needs to be mowed. But, coming back home and reading about and hearing about all these useless, disrespectful, whiny, deflated shorn scrotum social justice, “I get a trophy because he/she/they/their got a trophy,” emo losers, it’s just embarrassing. When the “F” did a United States citizen lose the right to an expressed opinion and the right to expression in return? Slander is a form of bullying; if we want to be technical. “But, it’s different when they do it.” I am disgusted that these “people” have applied “warrior” to their moniker and I am fearful for the future my children may grown into. But, my children will know how to lace their own boots, do their own work, voice their own opinion and be accepting of, not exception of or to, other people’s beliefs and opinions.

I eluded to your writings as being an escape from reality but, I know that when I put the book down life is real. The sky is blue and the planet is round WTF.

We are not victims; we do work, we make our own way, we do what we feel is right for ourselves and our family, hurt feelings and all. MERICA! It’s democracy, NOT hypocrisy.

SPEAKING OF HYPOCRISY……
“Your right not to be harassed is not a right not to be offended. All of us have different things that
we find offensive. If you are offended, the best solution may be for you to walk away from the
person who offends you. Should that person pursue you and continue to offend you, that could beharassment.”http://originsgamefair.com/harassment-policy/

I’m not big on boycotts, but if you haven’t been to Origins before you may not know that you need to buy a Badge to get access to the Dealers Hall where the vendors are set up, and to play most games. Pretty standard for Cons.

There are some things in the Public Areas of the Convention Center and who will deal in cash not con tokens. But I wont be buying an Origins badge again until John Ward leaves.

I know a couple of the guys who run games , so I’ll probably visit while the Con is going on, but GAMA is not going to get another dime from me.

So John Ward cannot keep his pie hole shut and let it go, huh? I guess he got seriously butthurt over negative feedback (Shock!) on the SJW call and had to be defensive about it, instead of playing the man and admitting the bad call and moving on with it. If he was truly a man of honor and principle he would never have caved to the SJW Inquisition, but that is water over Niagra Falls. I have attended Origins many times over the past 20 years but this year I decided not to go, for what was done to Larry in such a shabby manner. I am a gamer and a SF/Fantasy fan and I don’t need to spend my money or my time at a convention to do it. There’s you warning Origins, and may you profit by it.

I’m a liberal, and I am extremely offended by the idiots who think they have the right to prevent other viewpoints from being heard. Anybody who feels threatened, or “in danger” because somebody they don’t like will be there, THEY SHOULD STAY HOME!!! I read many different genres, across the political spectrum. Good writing is good writing. If I planned to go to an event, and a few complainers convinced the organizers to change the lineup, I would be furious. And I would probably refund my tickets, and locate the vendors online. So that I could still buy stuff, but not support the organizers.

I think I’ve read three of your books and decided they’re not my cup of tea but writing like this is an absolute hoot. It’s a shame it only makes you money in a peripheral way. (Something like this is why I bought the third book.)